Town of Milton rebukes former Supervisor Frank Thompson

MILTON -- At the recommendation of the town Ethics Board, the Town Board has adopted a resolution admonishing former town Supervisor Frank Thompson and prohibiting him from any future employment by the town because he did not file accurate ethics disclosure forms for several years.

Thompson categorized his estranged wife Deborah Thompson as "retired" when filling out annual financial disclosure statements from 2004 to 2011, when she was really working part-time as a manager for Belmont Management Corp., a housing complex for senior citizens.

The Ethics Board also recommended the Town Board consider pursuing Thompson to pay for legal expenses the town accumulated while investigating him.

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"The Ethics Board did a great job of investigating Thompson, and we are going to take their recommendations, but I don't think there are grounds to ask him for any legal fees. The town has bigger and better things to work on," Milton Supervisor Dan Lewza said Monday afternoon.

The Ethics Board began investigating Thompson in May 2011 after a complaint was issued by Thomas and Bruce Boghosian, brothers who own a remodeling company in Saratoga Springs. The Ethics Board issued a decision one year later that was made public Sept. 19.

Starting May 17, 2012, Thompson had 30 days to request a hearing before the Ethics Board, which he did not do.

Supervisor Dan Lewza defeated Thompson in a Republican primary in September 2011. Thompson now works for the Saratoga County Water Authority as a laborer, where his son also works.

In August 2011, Thompson's ex-wife pleaded guilty to third-degree larceny, a felony, after she befriended an elderly woman under her care at Belmont Management Corp., became the woman's financial guardian and proceeded to steal more than $30,000 from the woman's accounts. She was ordered to pay back the stolen amount and began serving a five-year probation sentence in March.

Three members of the five-member Ethics Board were involved in the investigation into Thompson: Jim Reagan, Suzanne Canell and Kevin Borowsky. The other members, Kevin Grupe Sr. and Dave Toney, removed themselves from the investigation. Toney has since resigned.